00:00Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro says he is open to talks with the United States
00:05amid intensifying pressure from Washington.
00:08Speaking to state television, Maduro said he was ready for dialogue with the U.S. on energy and drug trafficking.
00:17His comments come after weeks of escalating actions by the Trump administration,
00:22including strikes on alleged drug-smuggling boats and the seizure of Venezuelan oil tankers.
00:27Earlier this week, President Donald Trump confirmed the U.S. carried out a drone strike
00:31on a docking facility inside Venezuela, marking the first known land operation on Venezuelan soil.
00:38However, Maduro declined to confirm or deny reports linked to the strikes.
00:43U.S. officials say more than 30 vessels have been targeted since September
00:47as part of a counter-narcotics campaign, with over 110 people killed so far.
00:52Maduro says the U.S. is using its war on drugs as a pretext
00:56for regime change and control of Venezuela's oil reserves.
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